Hack Weld Solder Sculpt: Floor it

Minor surgery, amateur surgeon

I ordered the sheet metal for the floor almost a year ago. I knew the floors needed new sheetmetal, and at some basic level I understood what had to happen, but only today did I actually start the project. Of course we removed the interior a while back, removed the mouse nesting, and neutralized the smell inside, but the real undertaking is removing or repairing the rust. I'm excited and anxious about this undertaking, mainly because I have learned a lot about sheetmetal work- I mean I know a lot in theory, but still haven't completed something like this. I just need to bear down and start. I may or may not have distracted myself with the engine build just to push this job out a bit. No hiding from it now! Today I got down to the "real" job.

"OK WELL THERE'S YER PROBLEM"

Since I have new seat pedestals on hand, I started by removing one of the old ones on the driver's side. I have a spot weld cutting kit and an air chisel, but wasn't sure which technique would work the best in removing that piece. I figured I'd try both to see how well it would go. Seemed a decent place to start since I didn't need to be dainty, or try to save the piece I was removing for reuse. After some experimenting, my best answer was "both"- the best technique I found was to grind out the spot weld, and then break the seam with the air chisel. With some effort, the pedestal finally loosened and I could remove it to inspect the floor underneath.

All that rust on the floor was vibrated loose while working (!)

While working, I noticed a steady raining of rust scale from the bottom of the car. Glad I decided to replace the platforms, looks like there was no rust treatment between the original floor and the pedestal. This area is normally permanently closed up, can trap moisture, and has no practical way of treating or cleaning it short of doing what I just did in removing the box. Illinois winters strike again! This will be fine once I treat the metal (using POR 15) we're keeping, weld in new metal and give it all some paint, seam sealer, and undercoating.

Next: let's see if I can remove all the bad metal on the driver's side, treat the frame boxes and remaining surface rust, cut the new metal to fit, and weld in place.